"It is my dream to build a park that I one day visit with my White House staff on my birthday. And they say, 'President Knope, this park is awesome. Now we understand why you’re the first female president of the United States.' "
Leslie is the deputy director of the Parks and Recreation Department in Pawnee, Indiana. An inversion of the Obstructive Bureaucrat trope, she is a cheerful bureaucrat full of can-do spirit. This makes her The Pollyanna on a show where almost everyone else is cynical and jaded to one degree or another. She is also a Determinator.
Adult Child: Leslie is cheerful, hyperactive, and a little naïve. Not to mention her fondness for candy and dislike of vegetables. She is competent, however.
Ambition Is Evil: Averted! Leslie is extremely ambitious (just read the above quote), but she is also very moral. In some episodes, she is presented with an immoral way to achieve one of her goals and considers using it, but ultimately she ends up feeling guilty and doesn't go through with it.
Bad Liar: Honest to a fault, Leslie's rare attempts at subterfuge invariably fall flat. In many cases, she ends up ratting herself out.
Beleaguered Bureaucrat: This becomes especially apparent in "Christmas Scandal", where it's shown that her duties are so numerous that the combined efforts of all six of her coworkers can't get the job done.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She's very good at her job, and probably should have Ron's. She is however, an extremely eccentric Adult Child.
Leslie: It's every girl's dream to [something incredibly wonky, obscure and/or overspecific].
Character Development: Leslie had some Michael Scott-ish aspects to her personality in Season 1, but in Season 2 the character became much less obnoxious, and more of a hyper-competent, upbeat Pollyanna.
Determinator: Best exemplified by her masterful oration of her speech intended to attract sponsors to Harvest Festival. All while she was near delirious with the flu, and quickly reverted to sickness-induced delirium during a short Q&A session.
Distaff Counterpart: Back in the first season, critics tended to dismiss Leslie as "Michael Scott in a skirt", but it's generally agreed that she became more her own character after the series Grew the Beard, as unlike Michael Scott, she is not only good at her job, but totally deserved to have been promoted into it.
Expository Hairstyle Change: Wears a small, very tight French braid in her hair curving around the top of her head in "Jerry's Painting", apparently because she takes very well to being compared to a Greek goddess.
Fangirl: When it comes to Harry Potter. She made best friend Ann watch all eight movies even though she doesn't like Harry Potter.
Genre Savvy: A lot more than average government officials it seems. How many people do you picture fixing the controversy with Jerry's painting by making Jerry make a new one in which Tom is the bare chested centaur instead of a female bare chested centaur.?
Glurge Addict: Mildly. She really likes cute things, but not to an annoying degree.
Leslie: Scientifically hummingbirds are the world’s cutest animals. I mean, they're so small, they have tiny beaks and they only eat sugar water. I mean what beats that? Come on. Baby monkeys in diapers? Yeah... they do. Baby monkeys in diapers are the cutest.
Les Yay: Leslie admits she kissed a woman once in college, and is constantly referring to Ann as some variation of "Sweet, beautiful Ann," to the point where it's become a Running Gag.
Number Two: Officially, she is this to Ron, but she actually does all the work.
Ted Baxter: Kind of. She's not full of herself, but she's convinced that her small government job is much more important than it really is. She also has no doubt that she will one day be president of the United States.
Increasingly looks like this will be averted completely, as her work is getting her more attention - at least from local Pawnee politicians.
Trademark Favorite Food: She piles whipped cream onto everything. She also loves Belgian waffles, specifically the ones from JJ's Diner.
Weirdness Magnet: Somewhat. She's seldom had a "normal" date—something extremely outlandish happens, or the date himself is outlandish. Incidents include a blazing dress, an Ambien overdose, a date sticking his hand in her mouth as she slept, and a free MRI. As far as we've seen, Dave and Ben are the only men she's dated without some kind of off-putting quirk or glaring character flaw.
Workaholic: Hell, in "Citizen Knope" she attempts to steal some work from the office to do at home during her paid suspension.
Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones)
"The Parks Department has done so much for me, that if I can help them out in any way I will. Oh god. Maybe I should just give them all free flu shots."
Leslie's Heterosexual Life Partner. Despite being a nurse at the local hospital, Ann seems to spend all her time at City Hall, apparently helping her friends with their work for free. This is The Artifact from the first season in which she originally brought Lot 48 to Leslie's attention and became involved in the effort to turn it into a park. She is generally a Straight Woman.
Ambiguously Brown: Obviously, applies to any character played by Rashida Jones, who is black and Jewish. The character's race has not been addressed on the show.
Expository Hairstyle Change: Colors a few locks of her hair bright red in an attempt to impress Chris in "Camping".
Extreme Doormat: Definitely has elements of this. She's very passive compared to Leslie and is always pulled into Leslie's plans. Also, due to the Florence Nightingale Effect and Weakness Turns Her On, she's very inclined to allow boyfriends to take advantage of her.
Florence Nightingale Effect: Ann is clearly shown to be attracted to vulnerable and sickly men. She waited on Andy hand and foot when his legs broke, and tries to coddle and protect him like a child, and kisses him when he ends up in the hospital again. She was also incredibly threatened and uncomfortable by Chris being almost completely perfect until he got a nasty case of the flu, which made her ecstatic.
Hospital Hottie: Not that she actually spends much time working there.
One-Hour Work Week: Ann's nursing job. The show is a Work Com, it's just not her work to it's dedicated. Occasionally we see her at her work, usually whenever a main character ends up in the hospital. Ann getting a part time job at City Hall as of the end of Season 3 is most likely an attempt to avert this trope.
Really Gets Around: She finally learns how to put her looks to good use in season three, and is shown with at least one new paramour every episode of that season.
Shipper on Deck: Ann really, really wants Leslie and Ben to get together (and even sneaks an Al Green song onto their road trip mix, which is designed to be as un-sexy as possible.).
So Beautiful, It's a Curse: A mild case. Being so beautiful, she's never been dumped before. When Chris breaks up with her, his positive personality and strange wording plus her inexperience make her not realize it until a week later and she is blindsided by it. As Leslie put it in an earlier episode:
Leslie: Ann, I always forget you're so pretty you're not used to rejection!
What Does She See in Him?: Ann goes through as many lame, unattractive boyfriends as attractive ones in season three. Leslie has to call her out on it in "The Fight" when her current guy happens to be the Douche.
"I had to call in a few favors, but if you don't call in favors to look at women in bikinis and assign them numerical grades, what the hell do you call in favors for?"
Tom is Leslie's immediate subordinate and an aspiring career politician. Networking, hot women, expensive suits, hot women, slacking off, and hot women are just a few of his favorite things.
Oddly, in what may be an Out-of-Character Moment, he isn't shown to be particularly affected by his invention Snakejuice, which has terrible after-effects for the rest of the cast.
Chivalrous Pervert: Is actually the one to tell Ben they should make sure a drunken Joan Callomazzo gets safely home from lunch with them.
Citizenship Marriage: His wife Wendy. Despite him being brown-skinned and her being white, she was the one who needed the green card. She's Canadian.
The Dandy: He has a full-sized room for a closet and explicitly states that he wears pink for the sake of "peacocking".
It's All About Me: Has a big, big problem with this. It's on full display in "Meet 'N' Greet", where he turns an event for Leslie to get to know local business owners into a investment pitch for his company Entertainment 720. While he did it because E720 was bankrupt and he was desperate for funds, it also wasn't particularly out of character.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: As Leslie puts it, "Tom Haverford is a selfish, sleazy, self-promoting, good-hearted, secretly kind and wonderful tiny, little person."
Pet the Dog: After Leslie tears up the Venezuelans' check in "Sister City", Tom secretly takes all the tips he earned making himself the Venezuelans' errand-boy and donates it all toward the park fund.
Pretty Fly For An Indian Guy: At one point, Tom mentions having carefully cultivating a Jay-Z vibe and once dressed up as the rapper T-Pain for Halloween. He's also fond of using the slang term "boo" to refer to a significant other.
Schemer: He's always involved in some plan or invention to get fabulously wealthy, but none of them ever work.
Self-Deprecation: Will not deny that he rides others' coattails.
This Is My Name On Foreign: His birth name is Darwish Sabir Ismael Gani, but he changed it since he thought people with "funny-sounding Muslim names" didn't have a chance in politics. He admits this reason is Hilarious in Hindsight after Barack Obama.
Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman)
"My idea of a perfect government is one guy who sits in a small room at a desk, and the only thing he’s allowed to decide is who to nuke. The man is chosen based on some kind of IQ test, and maybe also a physical tournament, like a decathlon. And women are brought to him, maybe... when he desires them."
Leslie's manly, mustachioed, unapologetically libertarian boss who, engaged in a continuous attempt to sabotage the Pawnee government, secretly (or not-so-secretly) tries to stop anything from getting done. Leslie basically does his job for him, allowing him to devote his time to being a Memetic Badass.
Annoying Laugh: Despite his unabashed masculinity, he titters like a schoolgirl on the few occasions where he does laugh.
Big Eater: Especially in regards to breakfast meals, and all other foodstuffs are treated with suspicion, or outright derision. The only thing that interests him in a strip club is the breakfast buffet. He says that if he does not have at least three breakfast meals a day, he acts like a tired whiny child. He has an enormous picture of bacon and eggs framed in his office.
Ron: Just give me all the bacon and eggs you have... Wait, wait. I worry what you just heard was, "Give me a lot of bacon and eggs." What I said was, "Give me all the bacon and eggs you have." Do you understand?
Birthday Hater: He hates birthdays so much that he has gone to great lengths to keep anyone from finding out, including having it redacted from all government documents.
"I don't like loud noises. And people making a fuss. And I especially don't like people celebrating because they know a piece of private information about me. Plus the whole thing is a scam - birthdays were invented by Hallmark to sell cards."
The Cast Showoff: Nick Offerman actually is a woodworker. He also plays saxophone.
Hidden Depths: Ron moonlights as jazz saxophonist "Duke Silver" and plays in clubs outside Pawnee.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ron Fucking Swanson may act like he hates all his coworkers, but he's shown on more than one occasion that if any of them are seriously hurting or in trouble, he'll be there for them.
Manly Tears: He's only ever cried twice. The first time was when a bus ran into him as a child. The second time was when he first caught word of Li'l Sebastian's death. He very nearly cries a third time in "Citizen Knope" in reaction to Leslie's Christmas gift—remote-controlled closing doors for his office.
Morality Pet: Andy has slowly been softening him up.
Obstructive Bureaucrat: He acts as one on purpose in a (thanks to Leslie's hypercompetence) questionably effective attempt to make the government as useless as possible.
Only Sane Man: He doesn't get involved in his coworkers' hijinks.
Professional Slacker: He basically lets Leslie run the department, which she is only too happy to do.
Real-Life Relative: Megan Mullaly (Tammy Two) actually is Nick Offerman's wife.
Real Men Eat Meat: To the point that he thinks fish are acceptable to catch, but not to eat since "fish meat is practically a vegetable".
Ron is also the inventor of the "Turf and Turf." This is a 16-ounce T-bone steak lightly garnished with a 24-ounce porterhouse steak.
Sliding Scale Of Libertarianism And Authoritarianism: As indicated by the above quote, Ron's political philosophy falls quite far on the libertarian side. He has explicitly referred to himself as a libertarian a number of times and sees no value in government-run institutions to the point of wanting everything privatized. Unfortunately for him, Leslie always has ambitious plans to expand the Parks Department. Hilarity Ensues.
"No, I didn't win, but at least I didn't make any new friendships."
April is The Snark Knight. Originally, she was an apathetic college intern who constantly slacked off and seemed like she would rather be anywhere else. In the second season, she was hired as Ron's assistant specifically to stonewall anyone wishing to meet with him. It's a symbiotic relationship.
Actor-Shared Background: Being of half-Puerto Rican descent. However, it's on the actress's father's side and the character's mother's side.
Bi the Way: Potentially. She expresses interest in going to a strip club and thinks the topless painting of Leslie is hot.
Growing Up Sucks: Firmly believes so, as demonstrated in "Jerry's Painting".
If It's You, It's Okay: Says she would hit Leslie-as-beautiful-topless-centaur-Greek-goddess in "Jerry's Painting".
Large Ham: Whenever she acts in-show, like when she pretended to be a rich, vampish widow at a bar.
Meganekko: On the rare occasions she wears her glasses.
Morality Pet: Andy in a way has helped in her gradual defrosting. Notably her time with him leads her to reject her two gay boyfriends due to being annoyed by how artificial their hipster ways were.
Put on a Bus: The possibility is toyed with in season three, where Chris offers to take her back to Indianapolis with him to be his assistant.
Shouldn't We Be In School Right Now?: Similar to Ann's One-Hour Work Week. April is a college student, but this isn't mentioned very often and she never seems to have to be in class, which would seem to indicate that whatever college she's attending is close enough for her to be at the office so often during the day.
In The manualPawnee: The Greatest Town In America, April says she only takes one course a semester at Pawnee Community College.
April: I passed up a gay Halloween party to be here. Do you know how much fun gay Halloween parties are? Last year I saw three Jonas Brothers make out with three Robert Pattinsons. It was amazing.
Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt)
"I just wrote a new song, okay? Bottom line, it's called 'Sex Hair'. It's about how you can tell when someone just had sex 'cause of how their hair gets matted up in the back. It's awesome."
Andy was introduced as Ann's idiotic musician boyfriend in the first season and originally intended as a temporary character. He was kept on in the second season after Ann broke up with him and landed a job as a shoe-shiner at City Hall. He had a Will They or Won't They? relationship with April in the second season. They began dating in the third season and as of "Fancy Party" are now married.
Author Catchphrase: He mentions that he uses the lines "spread your wings and fly" and "you deserve to be a champion" in all of his songs. The first lyric at least can actually be heard in the studio versions of most of his songs.
Character Development: Andy morphed from something of a jerk in Season 1 to a lovable doofus in Season 2.
YMMV on that one, considering his completely unreasonable behaviour regarding Anne. After she broke him with him at the end of season 1, he spends much of season 2 stalking her and trying to sabotage her relationship with Mark.
April: I'll go too. Tom: Really? 'Cause an hour ago you told me you'd rather watch a sex tape of your grandparents. April: Shut up! I don't have anything else to do. Do you want help or not? Tom: All right, see you guys later. [leaves] Andy: I think that that's really, really sweet that your grandparents still make love.
In another episode, Andy and Tom are escorted to the archiving room by an extremely old woman. As soon as she leaves, Tom jokingly tells Andy to remind him to ask her where she was when Lincoln got shot. Andy makes sure to write it down.
Fake Guest Star: In the first season, Chris Pratt was credited as a guest star despite appearing in every episode. They did shuffle back and forth on putting him in the opening titles during the first season, but nevertheless he was consistently referred to as a guest star. From the second season onwards, he was credited as a normal regular.
Feigning Intelligence: Andy has tried to sound smart on several occasions, and it is hilarious each and every time.
Literal-Minded: Leslie commissions him to write a song for Li'l Sebastian's funeral that's "5000 times better than 'Candle in the Wind' ". Andy writes a song titled "5000 Candles in the Wind".
Oblivious to Love: Towards the end of Season 2, it becomes clear that this is at least partially an act due to the age difference making Andy uncertain.
Stalker with a Crush: In the first part of season two, Andy lives in a ravine near Ann's house to "protect" her.
Took a Level in Kindness: His evolution into a more likable person during the second season. There was some of this in the first season too, particularly in one episode where he goes out of the way to clean the house (and himself!) as a surprise for Ann while impaired by his cast.
"I hit rock bottom that night. I mean I literally fell to the bottom of a pit and hit a rock. I remember laying there thinking, 'There's probably a good reason why I'm down here.' And then I remember thinking, 'I need morphine.' "
Straight Man caught in a Love Triangle between Leslie and Ann. He started off the series as a Handsome Lech, but this was quickly dropped and he spent most of his time on the show being a Lady Killer In Love. Put on a Bus when he joins a private company at the end of season two.
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Non-villainous example. Some years prior to the first season, Mark and Leslie slept together once. This was a very important event in Leslie's life and she imagines their working relationship has been filled with UST since. Mark sleeps with so many women that he barely even remembers it.
Character Development: In the second season, he began a steady relationship with Ann and remained faithful to her.
The Generic Guy: For two seasons, he stood in the middle of a cast of more interesting characters and acted sane. Which is what a Straight Man is obviously supposed to do, but many would argue that he just ended up being boring and unmemorable.
Put on a Bus: At the end of season two, Ann breaks up with him and he leaves the government to work for a construction company.
Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott)
"Well, you have to be able to make decisions like this, Leslie. You have to be harsh, you know. No one's going to elect you to do anything if you don't show that you're a responsible grown-up."
A state auditor who comes to Pawnee with Chris to evaluate the town's funds at the end of the second season. Promoted to series regular in the third season. He is blunt and cynical, but has a Freudian Excuse.
Adorkable: Makes occasional references to sci-fi movies and corrects Tom when he gets them wrong.
Ben: They would never cancel Game Of Thrones. It's a crossover hit! It's not just for fantasy enthusiasts. They're telling human stories in a fantasy world. Fill out the forms, please.
Berserk Button: Any mention of him as a mayor when he was 18 years old is bound to set him off.
Bi the Way: When going off on a talk show host, he can be heard saying, "Everyone has gay thoughts!" Although he may not completely fulfill the trope, since said talk show host was heckling and flustering him into saying several embarrassing things.
Characterization Marches On: In the episode The Flu Ben makes a series of sports analogies about Leslie's speech, something that would be wildly out of character by season four.
The Cynic: Though he's getting better, thanks to Leslie and Pawnee in general.
Face Palm: Ben's typical reaction to Pawnee, its citizens, and his own personal disasters.
Improbable Age: Was mayor of a town at 18. A caller to the Ira and the Douche radio show lampshades this in the most offensively unintelligent way possible:
Caller: Seems like 18 is pretty young for a mayor. What were you, like, 12?
In-Series Nickname: Ben accumulates a lot of these in his short time in the series ("Mean Ben", "Turd Boy", "Human Disaster", "Calzone Boy", "Nerd", etc). In fandom, "Human Disaster" especially has grown to almost meme-ish proportions.
Odd Friendship: With Tom. They probably couldn't have been more dissimilar. Though this might apply to Ben and Chris as well.
A Running Gag with Tom is Tom will make some kind of geek insult about Ben, with Ben to respond indignantly at being called a geek with an even geekier answer. For example, Tom insulting that Ben wants to take a hobbit tour of New Zealand, and Ben responding that he did not care for Peter Jackson's adaptation.
Old Shame: Bankrupting his hometown during his stint as teen mayor when he built an expensive winter sports center. When it's brought up by Ira and the Douche in "Media Blitz", it absolutely ruins his composure.
One Steve Limit: Is an aversion. Ben was previously the name of one of April's gay boyfriends.
Sharp Dressed Man: In a sleepy midwest town, he definitely stands out.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He kind of replaces Mark. He doesn't have the same job, but he acts as a foil/possible love interest to Leslie in a similar way.
By the end of the third season, however, Ben is definitely his own character. Also, according to creator Michael Schur, even though Ben was brought in with the idea that he might be a love interest/foil for Leslie, he was hesitant to label Ben that, reasoning that they hadn't shot a single scene with the two of them yet, and implying that, like Andy/April, there needed to be chemistry for it to work.
He's undeniably replaced Mark as the show's "straight man" though.
The Woobie: Becomes this in-universe(and to some viewers) when Donna takes him on her and Tom's annual "Treat Yo'self Day" after seeing him outside at lunch:
Donna: Oh lord. Is he eating soup on a bench? Alone?
His Woobieness increases later that day when he buys himself a Batman costume to wear as his version of treating himself and begins to weep, his sadness over the breakup of his secret relationship with Leslie finally coming out.
Donna: Uh oh. Batman's crying.
Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe)
"I take care of my body above all else; diet, exercise, supplements, positive thinking. Scientists believe that the first human being who will live a hundred and fifty years has already been born. I believe I am that human being."
Ben's partner and opposite. He is cheerful and optimistic, but, in an effort to be liked, he always forces Ben to be the messenger for any bad news. Chris is also a health nut. In season 3 the mayor of Pawnee asks him to fill in for the city manager who's recovering from a heart attack.
Broken Ace: He's a hypochondriac, and is shown to be unable to cope with the idea of being unhappy and his ultra-positivity often makes him unintentionally a jerk to others (i.e. his behavior toward Ann and Jerry, as well as designating Ben the Bearer of Bad News)
Catch Phrase: One of his strategies for making Ben seem like the bad guy instead of him involves variations of this:
[character complains about X] Chris: Well, that's terrible! Is there anything we can do about that, Ben? Ben: Uh, no. Chris: Damn! [hastily leaves the scene]
Subverted Catch Phrase: Chris tries to use this once, but then he realizes Ben isn't in the room.
This character page is literallythe best character page I have ever seen.
"Ann Perkins!"
Cloudcuckoolander: To the point of using a far too opaque fengshui metaphor to break up with Ann.
Expository Hairstyle Change: Has a somewhat more disheveled hairdo in season four. As of season four's sixth episode, Chris's hair is back to normal (with the exception of some more length and volume) now that Rob Lowe's done playing wife-killer Drew Peterson for a Lifetime movie.
Full Name Basis: He greets everyone by pointing at them and saying "Hey, <full name>!"
Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: It's part of his usual greeting, but it's also what he does when he meets someone for the first time. It can be off-putting.
Ron: Hello, gents! Ron Swanson. (reaches for a handshake) Chris:(point) Ron...Swanson. (beat) Ron: Okay.
Hollywood Tone Deaf: Revealed to be this in "Dave Returns". He doesn't know the words for "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" either.
Hypochondria: An extension of being born with a blood disease.
The Matchmaker: He expresses a fondness for this in 'Jerry's Painting' and endeavors to set Ben up with someone. Played for irony considered his new rules are actually keeping Ben from the one person he's interested in.
Moment Killer: An indirect version in that his rules against relationships within the government are the only obstacle in Leslie and Ben's way, although he is unaware of this. There are straighter examples in "Road Trip" where (1) Ben confesses to Leslie at dinner; Leslie leaves for a moment to consult Ann and steels herself to go back and kiss Ben only to find that Chris has appeared and has seated himself at their table, and (2) Ben and Leslie get increasingly cute while watching TV together on the couch in Chris's hotel room and Chris keeps interrupting with his frequent bathroom trips.
Pure Is Not Good: His exceedingly healthy body, which he compares to a finely-tuned microchip, is more than once played as a weakness. When he catches the flu it hits him like a truck.
"Stop... Pooping."
Real Men Wear Pink: His pink shower cap (from a breast cancer awareness triathlon), and he even has a leg razor. Chris sees none of this anything to be ashamed of.
He also doesn't see kissing Ron on his birthday as anything strange.
Chris: It is exactly because of that lewd photo that I am here. [...] If I could go back in time and cut your eyeballs out, I would. April: Wow, that is so sweet. Chris: Thank you.
Although in a later episode he seems to understand that Ann is using sarcasm, but not that it's meant as a jab at him.
Stepford Smiler: In "The Trial of Leslie Knope", he's so anxious and depressed about Leslie's trial that he loads up on herbal remedies to the point of, as Leslie puts it, "radiating happiness".
Chris:(increasingly frantically) I have to get out of here. I have 2.8% body fat. My body's like a microchip. A grain of sand could destroy it. My body's a microchip. (leaves)
Supporting characters
The government:
Gary "Jerry" Gergich (Jim O'Heir): A middle-aged Butt Monkey who works for the Parks Department.
Marlene Griggs-Knope (Pamela Reed): Leslie's mother and "a big mucky-muck in the county school system". Has shades of Meddling Parent and "Well Done, Daughter" Girl. Leslie's father is apparently dead, given a throwaway line which explains that "he lives in Florida, in a cemetery."
Tammy Swanson "Two" (Megan Mullally): The second of Ron's evil ex-wives. Not only is she also named Tammy, so is Ron's mother. This Tammy is a VampyManipulative Bitch and the deputy director of the Library Department, the Sitcom Arch Nemesis of the Parks Department. Her influence can turn Ron into a weird sex freak who obeys her.
Ethel Beavers (Helen Slayton-Hughes): A Cool Old Lady who works in the dreaded fourth floor of City Hall and is also court stenographer.
The media:
Joan Callamezzo (Mo Collins): The vapid host of Pawnee Today, a talk show frequented by the main characters. She likes Tom due to his flattery, but seemingly has a vendetta against Leslie.
Shauna Malwae-Tweep (Alison Becker): Intrepid Reporter for the local paper. Usually, the Parks Department gives her access in the hope that she'll report something positively for them, but hijinks ensue and her story ends up with a negative, sensationalistic slant. Also a bit of a romantic Butt Monkey.
Perd Hapley (Jay Jackson): Host of Ya' Heard? with Perd. tends to speakredundantly, in redundant sentences, that repeat themselves.
Other
Jean-Ralphio Saperstein (Ben Schwartz): Tom's partner-in-crime who is (even more) slimy and obnoxious. He's hilarious just from his hairstyle. Pretty much outright hated by Ron and Donna.
The Newports: A rich family of candy moguls, who own half the town with their corporation Sweetums. They don't appear often, but Sweetums is mentioned fairly frequently. The family's heir, Bobby(Paul Rudd), is Leslie's opponent in the City Council race.
Marcia Langman (Darlene Hunt): A humorless right-wing Christian activist offended by everything. Often uses Insane Troll Logic.
Lil' Sebastian: A miniature horse (more specifically, a Shetland pony) that did...something that has endeared him to the residents of Pawnee. Later dies and is given a city-funded hero's funeral.
